David Rice Atchison

David Rice Atchison (11 August 1807-26 January 1886) was the US Senator from Missouri (D) from 14 October 1843 to 4 March 1855, succeeding Lewis F. Linn and preceding James S. Green.

Biography
David Rice Atchison was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1807, and he was classmates with Jefferson Davis at Transylvania University before becoming a lawyer upon his 1829 graduation. In 1830, he moved to Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, and he defended Mormon leader Joseph Smith during land lawsuits. In 1834, he was elected to the State House of Representatives, and he became a Major-General of the US Army during the 1838 war with the Mormons in his state. In 1843, he succeeded Lewis F. Linn in the US Senate, becoming the first senator from western Missouri. Atchison was a fervent supporter of slavery and territorial expansion, supporting the 1845 annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War. During the "Bleeding Kansas" violence, he supported violence against abolitionists, calling on pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" to kill all abolitionists in the state to influence the decision on legalizing slavery in the state. On 30 March 1855, Atchison led 5,000 Border Ruffians into Kansas to cast tens of thousands of fradulent votes, leading to the state being controlled by a pro-slavery legislature. During the American Civil War, he was commissioned a Major-General in the Missouri State Guard, and he commanded some Confederate forces in Missouri until he resigned his commission in 1862 due to disagreements with Sterling Price. He died in 1886 in Gower, Missouri at the age of 78.